Friday, December 08, 2017

Last week you may remember that my Olympus Tough TG-3 went for a flyer out of my Chaff Bag and slammed into the pavement which ended up, (my diagnosis- I could be wrong), displacing the sensor. The camera fires up and electronics funtion but only about an eighth of the LCD screen shows an image and that is blurry. Everything else is black. If I give it a slap I can see the image move slightly, which tells me that the sensor is probably damaged inside or has come loose from its moorings, or.......something!

Whatever happened wasn't good, and the camera is useless in that state. So, I had posted about that on social media where a good friend, Jason of "Barns for Jason" fame, got a hold of me via a private message. Turns out that he had a brand new TG-5 he decided he was going to part with. So we made a deal and soon I should have this camera in hand and be posting some good non-iPhone shots. (Yes, that's all I have now.)

The TG-5 has some upgrades over what I had. Ergonomics are slightly improved, there are some technical upgrades, like RAW capabilities, but it is essentially much the same as what I had before.
I'm pretty stoked that the situation is being taken care of so quickly and with a camera I was eying anyway. I was pretty satisfied with the TG-3. I really had no issues with its performance and I was not looking to replace it anytime soon. But a silly little mistake on my part cost me and I will end up getting a new camera far sooner than I figured on. But that said, I am excited to get this camera and start using it. I'll have more to say once I get the thing in hand. Stay tuned......

Funded by French auto maker Peugeot, this "car" could overtake e-bikes in the future. Image from "Bike Europe"

The Future Of E-bikes May Have Four Wheels:

I've often said that e-bikes = motorcycles and when the motorcycle manufacturers get involved, the e-bike will quickly fade away. What I didn't see coming were electric/gas powered "micro-cars" from a well know manufacturer. Sure, I've seen the cheapo Asian made four wheeled electric vehicles before, but nothing as refined and with such high design as this Peugeot. To be fair, it is actually classified as an "LEV" (Light Electric Vehicle) and is positioned to compete with "speed pedelecs". This rig has heating, regenerative braking, and can travel at speeds of up to 70Km/hr.
It is a working prototype to see how common platforms might be developed for future versions of this project. You can read about it in more detail here.

The idea seems tailor made for the bigger urban areas in the colder regions of the country. You just are not going to sell commuters e-bikes in the latitudes where Winter rears its ugly head. Not to current, non-biking folks, at any rate. You know- the people the bike industry keeps saying should have their "butts in saddles", to paraphrase a popular catchphrase of one distributor. Well, good luck with that when the commutes are measured in tens of miles and the wind chill is under zero.

A heated, zero emission LEV though? Maybe that might work. Maybe. I ain't holding my breath on any of this taking over here though.

Europa doesn't look anything like this, by the way.....

Party Time:

My employer has owned Europa Cycle & Ski for 30 years now. The momentous occasion is being feted with a party on Saturday. You can expect the following:Discounts on merchandise store wide from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

From 7:00pm to 9:00pm there will be a celebration with beer, vittles, and tomfoolery of some sort not yet known to me. You'd have to come and find out. I'll be there later in the day. So, if you want to tip a few with me and some other Europa crazies, be there.
I'm also going to put this out there now. I will be helping to put on a "gravel curious clinic" at an establishment known as Doughy Joey's in Cedar Falls on January 13th, 2018. I will be talking about how to ride gravel roads, local routes, and what gear to use. What a "gravel bike"is, whet tires and pressures to use, and how to deal with dogs and more.
I'll be talking about this more in the near future, but for now I'll share the Facebook event link with you. CLICK HERE. Stay tuned.....